What can postcolonial theory contribute to the study of social equity?

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Abhishek Bhati
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13523

VIEWPOINT

What can postcolonial theory contribute to the study of social

equity?

Abhishek Bhati

Department of Political Science, Bowling Green

State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA

Correspondence

Abhishek Bhati, Department of Political Science,

Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green,

OH, USA.

Email: abhati@bgsu.edu

Abstract

There is a unanimous agreement among scholars that social equity s cholarship is

essential to the study of public administration. One area of weakness in the social

equity literature is its inability to develop a theoretical understanding of the com-

plexities of race, gender, and ethnicity. This viewpoint addresses the call of Pan-

dey, Bearfield, and Hall (2022), arguing “concept of race in public administration

remains woefully undertheorized”by exploring key tenets of Postcolonial theory .

Postcolonial theory can bolster social equity literature by providing a much-

needed theoretical framework to systematically understand the marginal ization

and subordination of people of color for centuries through representation, pro-

duction of knowledge, and power. The postcolonial theory also challenges the

portrayal of all non-White minorities as one collective hegemonic identity and,

therefore, can provide a sound theoretical grounding to social equity scholar ship.

Evidence for Practice:

•There is a growing call among scholars and practitioners to conceptualize race

in public administration using more complex historical foundations capturing

nuances of gender, ethnicity, and skin-tone rather than simplifying race as

binary (White vs. non-White).

•Postcolonial theory provides a strong theoretical foundation to understand

race and intersectional identity and provides a firm capacity to understand

race relationships using the historical lens.

•Postcolonial theory also provides insights into the exploitation and subjuga-

tion of colonial subjects (citizens once colonized by European empires) and

how their identity is forever molded by the slave trade and exploitation of nat-

ural resources of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

•Finally, the postcolonial theory provides a strong parallel between the colonial

representation of the colonized subjects as the “Other”and the portrayal of

poor people from the global South as stereotypical and helpless and refugees

and immigrants as dangerous or “bad hombres.”

INTRODUCTION

Both conservatives and liberals celebrated the election of

Barack Obama as the first African American President,

claiming the election signified “America has truly become

a post racial-society”(Dawson & Bobo, 2009, p. 247).

Recently, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed as

the first Black woman to serve on U.S. Supreme Court.

These milestones are worth celebrating as the representa-

tion of diversity at the highest federal offices matters.

That said, the U.S. is far from a “post-racial society.”In

fact, according to the Pew Research Center, “a majority of

Americans say race relations in the United States are bad,

and of those, about seven-in-ten say things are getting

worse”(Horowitz et al., 2019, para. 1). Similar thoughts

were echoed by Omi and Winant (2014), in their impor-

tant work, Racial Formation in the United States, argue that

the nation is “inherently racial”and “from its very incep-

tion has been concerned with the politics of race”(p. 5).

Despite several hopes for a post-racial society or racial

awakening in the U.S. after the tragic death of George

Floyd in 2020, the words of Jung et al. (2011), “[The]

Received: 22 February 2022 Revised: 21 April 2022 Accepted: 26 April 2022

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13523

Public Admin Rev. 2023;83:203–209. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puar © 2022 American Society for Public Administration. 203